It rained all the way from St.Gallen to Freiburg in the Black Forest.
From there I took the motorway to Strasbourg, where the sun was shining.

Strasbourg is a bustling city of 650'000 inhabitants (Metropolitan area) sitting between the rivers Rhine and Île directly opposite the German town of Kehl.
It swapped hands between Germany and France numerous times in the past few centuries - at the moment it is French!
The locals speak Alsatian, a wonderful singsong concoction which mixes both French and German.

The seventh largest city in France, Strasbourg is the capital of the Alsace/Elsass region and houses, amongst other things, the European Parliment, the European Council and the European Court of Human Rights. Yet amongst the hectic there is a quarter that - even when full of tourists - always seems to be idyllically quiet.
It is called Petite France.



You can see some of the Pictures I took by clicking the image above.
While looking at them, please consider the fact, that they were taken on a Saturday afternoon - the rest of the city, just two streets away, was jammed full of people.

I strolled around town for an hour or so and then met up with friends at a local restaurant. We had decided it had been just too long, since we last ate Tarte Flambée!
Tarte is a wonderful experience. A wooden board with a sliver of pastry, not unlike that of Pizza but much, much thinner, topped with cream, Onions and bacon - fresh from the oven. Just large enough to serve six people. When it has been devoured, another appears, as if by magic, in its place.
Cut it into six, eat it, wash it down with Pinot Noir - the local red wine, and ...
... another appears.
If you are fast enough you might catch the waiter as he places another board on those already emptied. If you do, you may order a variation ...
... Forestier - with mushrooms, Munster - with Munster cheese or variations with goats cheese and, when you feel you just couldn't eat another slice, with Apples!

This is the signal for the waiter to stop. Along comes the tarte covered in slices of apples and cinnamon. The waiter has a bottle of Calvados (apple brandy) in his hand. he pours a generous portion over the tarte and ignites it - a wonder the place doesn't go up in flames!

After the tarte flambée aux pommes it is just impossible to move.
I recommend a Marc du Gewurztraminer (The alsatian version of grappa). Afterwards you may try standing up and taking a very gentle stroll to the car.

But not before the waiter has counted the empty boards and bottles ...